


Hera's Promise

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Babies, Ficlet, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Planet Endor (Star Wars), Planet Lothal (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: A New Hope, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Post-War, Promises, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28835451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: Hera promises Rex that he'll see the end of the war for his brothers.
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Hera Syndulla
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	Hera's Promise

Hera stroked the soft tufts in her baby’s green hair delicately with her fingers. Jacen had just gone to sleep in her arms after she fed him, and didn’t even stir. The room was quiet, so she could just listen to the tiny sound of his soft breaths. Hera couldn’t stop just staring at him- he had his father’s nose for sure, and she wondered how much he’d look like Kanan as he grew up.

Someone quietly rapped on the medbay door, and she looked up.

“It’s open,” she called quietly.

The door slid open, and Rex walked in slowly. Hera smiled at him.

“Hey,” she said, her voice low. “Zeb and Sabine just went out to get dinner for us. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Oh, I saw them in the lobby,” Rex said, matching her volume. He pulled a chair over to sit next to her. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Hera nodded. “I’m good here. How are things on base?”

Rex shook his head. “They’re all packing up to move now. It’s actually going faster than I thought it would.”

“Well, we can’t waste time,” Hera said. “The Empire can’t be happy we broke their toy.”

Not long after Hera gave birth, and before Rex had arrived, Sabine had excitedly burst into the room to tell Hera and Zeb about the destruction of the Death Star. She’d startled Jacen as she did so, but Hera couldn’t bring herself to mind too much- she’d gone from fighting over Scarif to being flown to Lothal after going into labor, so she needed the good news, and was proud to receive it with her newborn son in her arms.

Rex chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. I finished packing my things, so I thought I’d fly over here, see this guy.”

He leaned over to look at the sleeping baby in Hera’s arms, smiling at him.

“He’s cute,” Rex said. “I, uh, don’t know much about babies, but I could watch him if you ever needed it. Maybe when he’s a little older, though.”

Hera smiled. “Thank you, Rex.”

He nodded. “The only kids I was ever really around much were my brothers, the younger ones on Kamino,” he said. “And even then, I wasn’t around them too much. I hate to think of what’s happened to them. We never got to see peace, any of us.”

Rex looked away, pondering, and Hera examined his face. She couldn’t reach out to him while she held the baby, though she wanted to.

“You’ll see peace, Rex,” Hera said. “I promise. I’ll make sure of it- for your brothers.”

Rex turned to look at her, a soft, sad smile on his face.

* * *

Rex had never really been one for loud, crowded parties. While some of his brothers would go to bars and clubs when they had free time during the Clone Wars, Rex never did. So he sat away from the loud celebrations, eating his dinner on a tree stump. He could still hear the music and chatter from a distance, but most of what he heard was the natural sounds of Endor’s forest.

He heard footsteps from behind him, and looked back to see Hera Syndulla approaching slowly, carrying her own plate of food.

“Mind if I sit with you? The party is getting a little too loud for me.”

Rex nodded, and Hera sat on a nearby fallen log, facing him. They both ate quietly for a few moments.

“What are you going to do?” Hera finally asked. “When peacetime comes.”

Rex swallowed a bite and hesitated for a few moments, thinking. What was he going to do?

“I, uh… I think I’ll look for my brothers. See if there’s any others that survived. What are you going to do?”

“Well, war isn’t over yet,” Hera said. “They’ll still need me for a bit. But after, I’ll settle down with Jacen. I hate that I’ve made him move around so much, raised him around all this… military. We’ll live somewhere nice, and he’ll get to be a normal kid.”

Rex chuckled. “That sounds good.”

“Thank you. I hope you can find more of your brothers,” Hera said.

He nodded. “Me too. I’m not sure how many I will.”

“Well,” Hera said. “The clones have done so much for the galaxy. You all deserve some peace, that’s for sure.”

Rex nodded. “I just wish more of us were around to see it.”

“Of course,” she said. “So many that deserved peace… didn’t get it. And I wish they could be with us. But we’re here. We did it for them, right?”

Rex paused.

“We did.”


End file.
